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The bill (HB 139), proposed by Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez, D-Miami, will be considered during the 2015 legislative session. Under current law, a majority of a jury can recommend that a defendant receive the death penalty, with a judge ultimately deciding whether to impose the sentence.

Rodriguez’s bill would create a higher standard, with juries needing to be unanimous in such recommendations. The bill also would give direction to judges on some jury instructions in death-penalty cases.

The potential implications of this legislation are not clear to me. This legislation seems like it could be somewhat protective of a single juror’s ability to utilize jury nullification in the sentencing phase of a capital case to recommend life without parole instead of death. However, while a jury would be required to be unanimous in its recommendation, I don’t see anything that would bind a judge to impose a sentence no harsher than that recommended by the jury. From my reading, it seems possible that even if a jury unanimously recommended life without parole, a judge might still be able to overrule that recommendation. I will be keeping an eye on this bill as it progresses through the legislative process.